Pula! (rain)

We went out last night to celebrate the camp managers at Seba’s birthday and so we headed for the bridge and had a lovely bush dinner. As we sat around watching the hippo prepare for their nightly feeds and the birds flying to roost across the water we were also treated to lightning and thunder rolling in the distance. A dark cloud loomed on the horizon but was blown around us. We enjoyed a feast of jacket potatoes and butternut cooked on the open fire the wind picked up and changed direction, the thunder was louder the lightning nearer. We quickly packed up and headed home – poor Chris (Heathers husband) was on the back of the pickup whilst Sim, Heather and I were squashed in the front, Sim drove as fast as he could over the bumpy roads to get his home safely. Chris seems to be enjoying the rain shower on the back as we could hear the occasional whoops of joy, the exhilaration that only a big African storm can bring at a human’s soul – one that rejoices in the power of nature and the life giving waters the storm brings. As we pulled up in camp the heavens opened – we retreated into the kitchen and enjoyed a cup of tea before making the dash to our tents. A hot shower later and we were tucked up in bed, enjoying the spectacular show nature was putting on.

Baby elephant love the rain.

It rained all night, a sleepless night for us, as a canvas tent is not the quietest thing in the rain. I woke up to the 0530 alarm, it was still dark the heavy clouds had not lifted but the rain had decreased to a drizzle. I walked up to the office in a daze from lack of sleep and in need of a coffee and was met by Mphoeng who was a little distressed. The office had flooded and the trunk where we stored our data books, computer discs and other important things had filled with about 5cm of water. So we have been spending the morning sorting all of that out. Not the best way to start the day.

As for how much water we had, we do not know, because it over flowed the rain gauge. So all we know is that it is more than 100mm. This is about our average monthly rainfall for the month of January in one night…….that is a lot of rain.